Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 12:16
Forums
IceCube: In-ice Antarctic Telescope
  • What has been your favorite meal? and what was your least favorite? - Michael Rosenburg & Tatiana Wells
  • How many hours of sleep do you get a day? -Henry Tran
  • What are some survival techniques you need to survive in the Antartic? -Ben V
  • What is the population of Antartica? -Previn Naidu
  • Do you ever lose track of time since the sun stays at the same elevation? -Edward Tran
  • Are some people better adapted to the altitude than others? - Scott Norcross
  • Where is the main water source located in the South Pole? - Sean Bean
  • How long do you work at your station? -Jay Patel
  • Were you relieved when you found out that the food was going to be good there, or were you looking forward to "roughing" it? -tyra norlander
  • What kinds of things or jobs do you do during the day? - Luca Mcgrath
  • If you're standing outside on top of a table or something high and poured water, will it freeze before it even reach the ground? - Honoree Tuazon
  • What's the most interesting thing you have learned about the history of Antartica? -Kristine Kramer
  • Has anyone gotten frost bite or hypothermia? - Lauren Meier
  • If you're chewing gum and go outside and blow a bubble, would it freeze? - Christina Belasco
  • Does it echo more out there? -Honoree Tuazon
Sun, 12/13/2009 - 11:37

Casey OHara

Hi all!  it was good to hear from some of you on Friday, hope you are all doing well and I look forward to seeing you all in January!Some quick answers:
The food is all pretty good here.  I haven't had anything really bad, and if it doesn't look good there are always other options. I think my favorites were lasagne, and crab legs.  Thanksgiving was of course excellent too!
I get about 6 hours of sleep a night, and it's not very good sleep... I think the sunlight 24 hours a day changes my body's usual sleep cycles.
Survival techniques - for people who are leaving the station to work in remote places (field camps) they take "Happy Camper" training which teaches them how to survive in bad situations, how to dig a snow cave or a trench, how to set up an emergency shelter, etc.  It's a two-day course and they sleep outside overnight.  For those of us living in the station, we don't need all that, in fact I'd love to take that class but my schedule doesn't allow enough time.
There are probably less than 3000 people on the entire continent.  McMurdo station on the coast is the biggest station, with about 1200 people; South Pole station currently has 261 people in it. 
The 24 hour sunlight definitely makes me lose track of time!  especially if I do something like watch a movie in the TV lounge or go to the "open mic night" they had Saturday, where it's dark and feels like night time, then step outside into bright sunny daylight at 1 am.
Some people are definitely better adapted than others.  Altitude sickness is hard to predict, and even someone who climbs mountains and is in great shape, coming from sea level to altitude they can still get very sick.
Sean - check one of my recent journals about the water - but our only water source is the ice itself, we melt it to make water.
I work about 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and sometimes do other shifts as well.  That doesn't include journal writing and photography and other things I am doing to keep in touch with you all!  Most of my work is helping with building the IceTop tanks, installing electronics and preparing the tanks to be filled with water for freezing.
If you drop water from a reasonable height it doesn't freeze quickly enough before it hits the ground.  If you sprayed it in a fine mist, it probably would because tiny drops can freeze faster than regular drops.  I will try to do some experiments later on with freezing.
I think the most interesting thing I have learned, aside from just the experience, is the history of the early explorers - Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton - hard core dudes!
I haven't heard of anyone getting frostbite or hypothermia here this year, but last year a guy set the world record for skiing in from the coast; after a couple of days his skis broke (or he lost them, don't remember the details) so he walked the rest of the way pulling his sled, and STILL broke the record.  But he was in terrible shape when he got here - spent a few days in the medical center.
Not sure about the bubble gum but I bet it would freeze!
And I already talked to Honoree about echos - but here, if you're away from the buildings, it's just FLAT - nothing for sound waves to bounce off to make echos!  But because of that, sound seems to carry really well, so you can hear a snowmobile or machinery from far away.
OK, take care everyone, I'll see you in about 3 weeks!